I received a phone call at the Labor desk and it was from a 21-year-old pregnant mom who was crying. She proceeded to say that she needed our help or she was going to end her pregnancy. She couldn't go on like this anymore. Caught off guard, I asked her if I could transfer the call to our Triage Nurse and she agreed. Jessica Fratianni picked up the phone, and proceeded to compassionately listen to the pleas of this very exhausted, admittedly depressed, overwhelmed, pregnant mom, while overhearing a little one in the background trying to console his crying mama.
Jessica continued the conversation by asking questions from the mom on the phone: inquiring about her health history (Post-Partum Depression), her available resources (she has none), getting her personal information such as name, address, and phone number and asking the question if she had any thoughts or ideas of hurting herself or the baby. The mom kept saying how tired she was and how she needed help ending this pregnancy of 26 weeks.
As if on cue, our security officer walked by the Labor desk. I immediately grabbed him and told him of the phone call that I received. He listened briefly to Jessica's conversation and got Mesa PD on the phone to let them know they needed to go to this mom's apartment and check on her. He quietly told Jessica to keep her on the phone until the police arrived, so Jessica casually made small talk to keep the conversation going. Jessica has had no formal crisis prevention training, but her calm and caring voice showed enough concern for this mom that she stayed on the phone for 15 minutes, until the police knocked on her door.
This is not the type of phone call we ever expect to receive on our Unit, but yesterday, I was so proud to be a co-worker and friend of Jessica. I don't think I could have handled the situation like she did. Jessica embodies the compassion and human kindness that defines our organization. She may very well have saved a life (or two).